The object of the invention relates to a process and a rotary milking parlor for the identification of a milking stall and an animal, in particular a cow, in a rotary milking parlor with a plurality of milking stalls which are disposed on a rotatable platform.
Rotary milking parlors for the milking of animals, in particular for the milking of cows, are known in the art. Rotary milking parlors of this type can be of different designs. For example, DE 26 50 741 A1 discloses a rotary milking parlor which has several milking stalls. The milking stalls are disposed side by side. Those skilled in the art speak of a side-by-side rotary milking parlor. In the case of this type of milking parlor, the animals are led radially inwards to the milking stalls. To this end, a gate, which makes possible entry into the milking stall, is drawn upwards. After the cow has entered the milking stall the gate is run down again.
The advantage of such a rotary milking parlor is that a large number of milking stalls can be disposed in a small space.
EP 0 763 970 B1 discloses another type of rotary milking parlor. This rotary milking parlor is a parlor with a plurality of milking stalls disposed in a fishbone pattern, and the milking stalls are disposed on a rotatable milking platform.
In the course of the automation of the milking as well as the monitoring of the animals with respect to their milk production and health, it is a known practice for the animals to be provided with an animal recognition unit. The animal recognition unit can, for example, be a neck/foot rescounter or a neck responder which contains the identification code for the animal. Other animal recognition units are also possible.
In order to be able to carry out the assignment of an animal to a milking stall of a rotary milking parlor, an entrance door is provided in the entrance path of the rotary milking parlor. The recognition of the animal occurs in front of the entrance door. After the recognition of the animal and the identification of the milking stall provided for this animal, the door opens when the milking stall is located in front of the entrance path so that the animal can enter this milking stall. The door closes the entrance so that the following animal is held back.
It is problematic in a process management of this type that each individual animal must be stopped in front of the door so that a reliable matching of the milking stall and the animal to be milked at this milking stall is possible. This leads to a reduced throughput per unit of time and thus to longer milking times. The opening and closing of the door is associated with the development of noise and wear and tear.
This constellation of problems has already been recognized. Thus, rotary milking parlors are also known which have no door in their entrance path or whose door is taken out of operation in certain phases of milking. In rotary milking parlors of this type, the recognition of the animal occurs in the entrance path. In so doing it cannot be determined unambiguously whether an animal actually enters the milking stall provided. There is thus the danger that an animal's non-marketable milk, which in fact should be thrown away, is nevertheless conducted into the marketable milk, since the animal did not enter the milking stall provided for that animal but rather another milking stall. This situation can lead to all the usable milk having to be thrown away.
Proceeding from this, the goal set for the present invention is to specify a process and a rotary milking parlor by which higher reliability with respect to the identification of a milking stall and an animal, in particular a cow, and the assignment of the animal to the milking stall is achieved.